


Just Kiss Already!

by Preciadology



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - 2000s, Alternate Universe - High School, I'm really going for the dumb teen movie vibe here so let's hope that's how it reads, M/M, Sexual Humor, Skater Boy Craig AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2020-07-26 03:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20036890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Preciadology/pseuds/Preciadology
Summary: Craig’s fallen off his skateboard plenty of times. But in his senior year of high school, he experiences a different type of falling.





	1. Chapter 1

“_Helloooo_? Craig?” 

Clyde snapped his fingers in quick succession in front of his best friend’s face. “You’re spacing out.”

Craig blinked rapidly, out of his daze. “-Oh. Yeah, hey.”

Clyde rolled his eyes playfully. “Dude, look, I know, okay? I know you’re nervous about seeing him again. But don’t you think this is a _ little _ ridiculous?”

He pushed Craig’s shoulder, causing Craig’s body to sway to the side, palm digging into the curb they were sat on. 

It was sundown. Above them, the sky was painted warm shades of orange and purple, tinting everything under it darker colors. For this, Craig was thankful because it hid the way his cheeks turned slightly redder. He muttered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Aw, now you’re just lying! Come on, man,” Clyde said. “It’s been like, what? Almost a _ week _since I told you I saw Tweek moved back in town? And you’ve been acting like this ever since.”

The warmth in Craig’s cheeks grew hotter. “Acting like what?!”

“Oh, you know,” Clyde said, raising up a finger to begin enumerating. “Zoning out, not texting me back, not wanting to go to the skatepark, not wanting to go out _ at all_. In fact, I’m surprised you agreed to meet me out here so I could give you your board back.”

“I’ve been _ busy_,” Craig argued, glaring.

“Yeah, busy avoiding Tweek,” Clyde replied with a teasing grin. When Craig didn’t do anything but roll his eyes and look the other direction, he continued. “Summer break’s almost over. School starts in like, what, 4 days? You know what that means, right?”

Craig felt his chest tighten at the reminder. God damn it. He couldn’t deal with talking about this. This conversation was ending _ now _. He got up, grabbed his skateboard by the deck and started walking back towards his house, leaving Clyde to sit alone on the curb. “I’m going inside. I’ll see you whenever.”

Clyde got up as well, calling back to Craig. “Sure, sure. I’ll text you, alright?”

“Yeah,” Craig replied curtly, hoping as he reached his front door that that was it, that was goodbye and Clyde would leave to go be stupid next door at his own house.

“Oh, and hey!”

...But it looked like that wasn’t the case.

Craig sighed, stopping where he was. “What?”

“I know you’re a little touchy about Tweek, alright? But if you ever wanna talk,” Clyde said. He tapped the palm of his hand against his chest twice. “I’ll be right here, amigo.”

This resulted in a brief period of silence that Craig broke by turning the door knob and pushing past the doorway. “Cut it out with the Spanish, dude. You sound fucking stupid.”

And that was that.

— — —

It took a while- 3 days, to be exact- but Craig had finally accepted it. He was going to have to face Tweek eventually.

For him to be acting this way was strange. He’d never been the type to skirt around solving his problems. Always one to confront head on. Blunt and quick and easy. But he was handling this the complete opposite way. Instead, he’d been cooped up in his house, refusing to step foot outside. 

Because for once, Craig Tucker was scared. 

He was scared he’d run into Tweek somewhere. He was scared of inevitably having to face him and confront him about the status of their friendship. Or lack thereof. He didn’t _ know _ what was going on between them. But he did know they probably would’ve continued to be friends if Tweek had replied to any of his letters.

They were around 12 when Tweek moved away.

Craig could still vividly remember the day. They were talking out in the Tweaks’ front yard while the movers were loading the last of their things into the truck. Craig had never been a crier but the minute a tear ran down Tweek’s cheek, the dam broke.

His brain scrambled for a solution to stop Tweek’s tears, all while an intense feeling of helplessness wracked him. Craig came up with the idea for them to write each other. And Tweek, wiping the wetness on his face away, agreed it was a good plan. And then, Tweek’s dad called for him to get in the car.

Craig could still recall how much he’d wanted to wrap his arms around his friend because then, maybe _ then _he could use all the strength he had to hold him down. He could, kicking and screaming, adamantly refuse to let go and Tweek could stay there with him forever. 

But it was only ever a couple of tearful goodbyes before he was watching the Tweaks’ car drive down the road, taking Tweek farther and farther away. He waved to Tweek as the boy’s green eyes peered at him from the car’s back window. And that was the last time Craig had ever seen or heard from him.

Since then, he’d been feeling like he’d been walking around dismembered.

Yes, Craig knew it was stupid to still have all these feelings over some kid he knew when he was 12. But the thing was Tweek wasn’t just “some kid.” The kind of friendship he and Craig had was...different.

His friendship with Tweek wasn’t the same as the one he had with Clyde. He’d never lost to Clyde in rounds and rounds of video games on purpose just because he thought it’d make him happy. He’d never stayed up till 2am talking to Clyde on the phone just cause Clyde couldn’t sleep. He’d never found himself doing anything and everything he could just to make Clyde happy. Those were things he did for Tweek and Tweek alone.

Craig was someone who remained apathetic to most things. But he’d never cared about another person as much as he did Tweek. Tweek had a way about him that made Craig want to open up. He had a heart of gold and would let go of the softest, kindest words. He had no idea how to describe Tweek. Craig had never met anyone like him. He was someone special to Craig. And Craig could tell he was special to Tweek too.

But not special enough to write back to, apparently.

Now, Tweek was back in town. And it filled Craig with a little bit of dread. He had no idea what Tweek was even like anymore. Would he be the same? Completely different? 

One thing’s for sure, Clyde was right. They were bound to bump into each other at school at one point. And when that time came, they’d have to talk about the elephant in the room. He was embarrassed to admit how many hours of his life he’d spent thinking of possible reasons Tweek had never written back.

Part of him hoped it was because Tweek had never even gotten any of his letters. Maybe something went wrong at the post office dozens of times. But that was unlikely. A bigger part of him thought Tweek had just cut him off. That, upon moving somewhere new, he’d finally up and realized his worth and dropped his loser friend, Craig, who watched more scientific documentaries than a kid should. Yeah, he was thinking the negative part of him was probably right.

And, hey, the perks of being a pessimist. He was either going to be right or pleasantly surprised.

— — —

Craig was brushing his teeth when his sister’s shrill yelling invaded his ears.

“_Craig_, get downstairs already! Your stupid friend is here!”

It was an extremely unwelcome sound, especially given the fact that he was grumpy in the morning. After spitting into the sink, he shouted back, irritated. “Quiet the fuck down! Tell him to wait outside!”

“Craig, language!” his mother scolded halfheartedly from somewhere in the house. 

Craig rolled his eyes. She didn’t _ really _give a shit about the cursing. She only felt obligated to call him out because when you’re a parent, you were kind of supposed to care about that stuff.

“Yeah, Craig, language!” his sister, Tricia, mimicked mockingly.

He took a breath. He was going to choose to ignore the urge to be a smartass back to her.

It didn’t take long for him to finish getting ready. What the fuck was Clyde doing here anyway? Usually, _ Craig _would be the one to get him before school and not the other way around. 

He jogged down the steps, grabbed his board and backpack by the door and met his friend outside.

“What took you so long, man?” Clyde asked, standing on the sidewalk. Craig gave him a look.

“_What took me so long _ ? Why are you so _ early_?” Craig deflected, dropping his board under his foot. Without waiting for Clyde’s answer, he stepped on it and gave himself a push to begin speeding down the sidewalk. It’d been a whole week since he last skated since he was avoiding going outside. He missed the wind blowing between the strands of his hair.

Behind him, he heard Clyde take a second and do the same before he called back out an answer. “It’s senior year, man! Everyone’s looking to fuck. And look- the early bird gets the worm, right? Well, if _ my _ worm comes _ to _ the early birds-”

“Dude, shut the fuck up,” Craig said. He pushed his board forward.

“Whatever, bro,” Clyde said over the sound of wheels rolling on pavement. “What I _ mean _ is the earlier we get there, the earlier I can sway a _ minimum _of one hot girl to hop on my 10-incher before we graduate.”

“What, are you worried you’re gonna be a virgin forever if you don’t get laid by then?” Craig asked. “You’ll fuck in college, moron. Everyone does.”

“Are you telling me go to college a _ virgin_?” Clyde said incredulously. “No college chick would want to screw me if I’m a _ virgin_.”

“No college chick would want to screw you regardless,” Craig muttered.

“What was that?”

“I said good luck,” Craig replied, no indication of sincerity in his voice.

“Oh!” Clyde exclaimed, surprised. He broke out into a dopey smile. “Thanks, man!”

Craig rolled his eyes. The only actual friend he had was dumb as rocks. But right now, he was kind of thankful for Clyde’s company. He was definitely going to see Tweek today and this conversation was the only thing distracting him from his nerves.

“You know, I wore extra tight pants today so the ladies can just_ kind of _ see the outline,” Clyde bragged, grinning. “Dude, they’re so tight right now, one of my balls is above my dick. It’s up there. So it looks like ball-dick-ball.”

“Oh yeah,” Craig deadpanned. “Girls dig the division symbol.”

“Well, Wendy _ was _in AP Calc last year,” Clyde pointed out. “But other than that, you wanna know what else I’m bringing to the table? My hot new gym bod.”

“Gym bod,” Craig repeated monotonously. “You went for 2 weeks and didn’t even work out. All you did was take pictures and put them on MySpace.”

“What?! I totally did _ so _ work out!” Clyde scoffed, offended. “And they were _ progress photos_!”

“You were sucking your gut in. It was obvious,” Craig commented.

He leant on his heels to make the turn onto the street their school was on. It wasn’t far from their houses, which was precisely why they’d been skating there instead of walking ever since they learned how. He could see the brick building coming into view, some kids already hanging out on the grassy front.

“Wh- i-it’s just to enhance-! Ugh, look, you know what? It doesn’t matter,” Clyde said, mirroring Craig’s turn. “Bebe said she liked them, remember? So _ there_! She totally wants me.”

“The only thing she wants from you is the discount you give her at your dad’s shop,” Craig said bluntly. “To this day, I have no idea why you try so hard to impress those pompous assholes.”

“Hey, don’t call them that!” Clyde shot back. “I like those guys! Everyone does! You’re just trying _ way _too hard to hate them, bro.”

“You’re an idiot,” Craig said, wanting to drop the topic. He looked out into the school’s lawn as they reached it.

Blue eyes caught sight of a head of messy blond hair atop a short frame, the figure facing away from him. There was something...familiar about whoever that was. Who _ were _they? As if the person had heard his thoughts, they turned around and gave Craig a perfect view of their face.

_ Wow _ , that was...it was a _ really _nice face.

Even from afar he could tell.

Craig felt like he was slipping into a daydream but his eyes were open and the dream was real and it was right there, standing in front of the school building wearing a green sweater a size too big. If only he could take a closer look. If only he could-

The sharp clang of metal against the nose of his board brought Craig to his senses. He barely had time to react before his body collided with a streetlamp. 

He fell to the ground, palm slipping when he tried to break his fall. His side and shoulder scraped on the rough, hard sidewalk. Craig groaned in pain quietly. There’d be a few bad scrapes, nothing he hadn’t already lived through.

“_Ooooh_, rough,” Clyde said, still riding on his skateboard. He dragged the sole of his shoe till he came to a stop near where Craig laid. “I’ll go get your board.”

True to his word, Clyde ran off into the direction Craig presumed his board rolled off to. He could feel where on his arm there was going to be blood. It was admittedly slightly worse of a fall than normal since he didn’t see it coming.

Craig moved so his elbow supported his weight, preparing to get back up on his feet. But then he heard a voice call out, getting closer to him.

It sounded slightly deeper than he remembered. But it was so undeniably familiar it made his stomach do flips.

“Hey! Are you hurt? Let me help you!”

Craig braced himself. God, he was embarrassing. _ This _ was gonna be his and Tweek’s reunion after _ years _ of no communication? It was gonna be Tweek helping him up after he’d made himself look like a fucking _ idiot _crashing into a lamp post? He sucked in a breath and ripped his gaze from the pavement to look above him, where a hand was outstretched. Looking at the owner of said hand, his mouth went dry.

It was Tweek. 

Of course, he already knew that from the voice, but...the person who _ caused _ him to lose focus skating in the first place. The person who caused him to crash. The blond in the green sweater with a nice face- it was _ Tweek_. Craig laid there like a gaping fish out of water.

Strands of golden hair hung above him like sun rays reaching for his touch. Tweek’s eyes were the same bright green from the last time Craig had seen him. But the purple bags that used to be stark under them were gone. He had chubbier cheeks and a rounder jaw. He looked healthy. Sunlight leaked in between strands of blond hair, casting an angelic glow around Tweek’s face.

This didn’t feel real.

...Did he die? 

Did he just _ die _ from a skateboarding accident? Was this was heaven? Craig blinked. If this was heaven, he could definitely get used to it.

“Um, do you need help?” Tweek asked, hand still out for Craig to grab.

He jolted back to his senses at the sound of Tweek’s voice. “Oh, y-yeah.”

He was still a little absent-minded as he took Tweek’s hand. The touch made everything more real to him. He pulled his weight up and then he was standing, making it known how much he towered above the other boy. Craig had always been taller but now, it was even more apparent. Tweek looked to be a head shorter than him and it made Craig feel things he didn’t know how to describe. Looking at him, it was easy to notice that Tweek wasn’t just fuller in the face. Even with the big sweater on, Craig could tell he had way more of a stomach now than before. In fact, there was more of him in general. Frame wider, thighs thicker, _ everything _ thicker.

Was Tweek...always this hot?

Tweek looked distraught, babbling worriedly. “A-are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? I-I mean, I’m sure you are but- do you need me to take you to the nurse? I don’t know if she’s at school this early but I could-”

“No, I’m fine,” Craig reassured calmly. It felt familiar. It had been so long since he’d heard his own voice sound that way.

“Are you sure?! Let me see your arm. What if it’s broken?! You-”

“Tweek,” Craig said firmly. He grabbed Tweek’s arm lightly, feeling a softness that didn’t used to be there. “I’m okay. Really.”

This made Tweek stop. As if it had turned a switch on in him. He moved to look up at Craig’s face and by his gaze, you could tell the gears in his head were turning. His brows furrowed, focusing intently.

“Wait a minute...” Tweek mumbled quietly. A few seconds passed and realization set in on his face. “...Craig?”

Tweek didn’t even recognize him till now? Well, Craig guessed he couldn’t blame him. He didn’t look the exact same as he did when they were kids. He nodded slowly in response. “Yeah...um. It’s me. Hey, Tweek.”

Tweek’s mouth hung open, eyes travelling down and up to take in the sight of him. Craig shifted where he stood, feeling a little nervous with all the looking Tweek was doing.

“You...you look so different! Your hair is- and you’re so _ tall _ a-and- oh Jesus, you have a _ piercing_! And you’re so tall! And...and...man, you’re _ really _tall!” Tweek exclaimed as he walked circles around him as if he was a sculpture in an art museum and he was appreciating the details.

Craig’s face heated up, unsure how to respond. “Yeah, it’s, uh...you know, genes and stuff.”

Craig cringed. Why did he say that? He shouldn’t have said that. What the fuck.

Tweek stopped right in front of him. “Your voice is deeper,” he observed.

“Oh, it’s just- puberty a-and like...yeah. Um,” Craig stuttered. He gulped.

Tweek’s mouth curled into a fond smile. “And you’re still kind of a nerd.”

Craig couldn’t help smiling back. For a moment, all they did was stand there smiling at each other. Craig took a nice, long look, enjoying every second. Maybe a little too much, even.

But soon, his mind drifted to what he’d been worrying about for the past week. His face fell. Now that Tweek was standing right in front of him, looking like a million bucks, it dawned on him that it was going to be a lot harder than he thought to bring it up. But the sooner he did, the sooner it’d be over. So he ripped the bandaid.

“Hey, so...a-about the last time I saw you,” Craig started lowly. Nervously. “We said we’d keep in touch. But you...you didn’t reply to any of my letters.”

Tweek stared at him for a beat. “You..._ wanted me _ to reply?”

Craig blinked. “Um...why wouldn’t I?”

“O-oh, it-it’s just,” Tweek stuttered. “You didn’t put a return address on any of your letters, so…”

The gears in Craig’s mind halted to a squeaking stop. What the fuck. Craig had written to him for the first few months he was gone. Eventually, he gave up because he never got an answer back. And the whole time Tweek wasn’t replying- it wasn’t because he wanted to cut ties, not because he didn’t want to, but because Craig was too dumb to write down his address_._ It was his own fault. It was his own stupid fucking fault. 

“You’ve been getting my letters,” Craig said, asking for confirmation. Tweek nodded. “All of them?” Another nod. 

“But you didn’t know where to send your replies,” Craig continued.

Tweek pulled on the hem of his sweater, visibly more distraught. “I didn’t know your address! A-and since you didn’t put it anywhere- I thought you didn’t wanna hear from me or- or- agh, I don’t know. I’m so sorry!”

Craig frowned. “Hey, no, it’s not your fault- _ I’m _the idiot who-”

He was cut off by a hand clapped on his shoulder and a loud greeting, “Hey, guys!”

Looking to his right, he found it was Clyde, back with his skateboard.

Clyde faced Tweek. “Oh hey! If it isn’t Tweek, my bestest bro in the whole world! What’s up? It’s been a while, huh? I missed you _ tons _, dude! You’re like, different now! A good different though, don’t worry.” He held up a fist for Tweek to bump.

Tweek’s brows drew together in confusion, looking at Clyde. Craig was equally confused. ‘_Best bro_?’ Clyde and Tweek were never really close. They were only friends in the we-have-a-mutual-friend kind of way and never hung out like Craig and Tweek did. So why was Clyde talking like that? 

However, Clyde _ was _right about Tweek being different, Craig noticed. He didn’t have his tics nor was he trembling all the time anymore.

Tweek knocked his own fist against Clyde’s lightly. “Uh...hi?”

Clyde rested his elbow up on Craig’s shoulder, leaning on him. “So, Tweek, heard you’ve been hanging out with Wendy a lot since you moved back. What’s the deal with you guys? Are you like, you know…” Clyde wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Oh. _ That _ was why.

Before Craig could figure out what the feeling at the pit of his stomach was, Tweek protested. “_No _ ! No way, we’re not- _ Jesus_, no. We ran into each other at the library last week, I said hi and we started talking! We’re just friends!”

Craig let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and Clyde nodded, mentally taking note. “Good. That’s good! Do you know if she’s single? Talking to anyone? Anything like that?”

Frowning, Tweek answered. “She doesn’t like you, Clyde.”

“No, but she hasn’t seen my gym bod yet! I’m sure it’ll change her mind,” Clyde said, flashing a grin.

For a noticeably awkward moment, Tweek was silent. “...Uh. She’s actually waiting for me right now. I have to get back to her.”

“Alright, man. See you around!” Clyde replied, making a clicking sound with his tongue as he pointed a finger gun at Tweek.

“Yeah,” Tweek replied stiffly.

Craig was still trying to wrap his head around it. Wendy? Why the fuck was Tweek friends with _ Wendy _now?

“I’ll see you later, Craig,” Tweek said, looking at Craig with a softer expression, the tone of his voice gentler.

The low heat of anger from the back of Craig’s mind dissipated.

“I...um, yeah. S-see you later,” Craig said dumbly, feeling a small smile creep up on his face as he waved back. Tweek walked away and Craig couldn’t look at anything else.

“Come on,” Clyde said, slinging an arm over Craig’s shoulders and ushering him in another direction. “Bebe’s not out here, I wanna see if I can find her inside.”

Craig allowed himself one last, long look before he let himself be dragged away.

— — —

The first few periods went by much faster than Craig had ever experienced.

But the whole time, his mind was on Tweek. So he guessed that was why.

He couldn’t really think about much else. He had looked around for Tweek in every class he’d had so far and he wasn’t in any of them. Craig just wanted to see him again. Maybe when class was over and-

“Dude. Get up,” Clyde said waving a hand in front of his face. “Come on, man, let’s go to lunch! We’re the last ones in here!”

Craig blinked, coming back to Earth. “Oh. Shit.”

He followed Clyde out of the classroom. As they carried on down the hallway on their way to the cafeteria, Clyde took the opportunity to tell Craig all about his day so far.

“Oh! And there was this guy in math class- dude, he was _eating his eraser_. Is it bad I wasn’t even grossed out? It was kind of..._admirable_, actually. The way he was _really _just getting in there and eating it like a fun sized Snickers. Dude, I wonder what it tastes like. He seemed really into it. What if it _does _taste like chocolate? Maybe I should try it,” Clyde ran his mouth enthusiastically, just loud enough so his friend could hear him over the chatter the other kids were making in the busy hallway. 

Craig, meanwhile, was looking around, hoping to spot Tweek so he could invite him to sit with them. He wanted to catch up, ask what he’d been up to while he was away, and how he got so hot. 

...What?

Ignore that last one. He didn’t even know _ how _ that thought got there.

“So,” Clyde began. “I really wanna get a table near the cool kids. We should move faster.”

Craig frowned, eyes still scanning the crowd. He was beyond sick of this weird obsession Clyde had with what he’d irritatingly labelled ‘the cool kids.’

As everyone entered high school, friend groups had started shifting around. Eventually, Wendy, Bebe, Nichole, Kyle, Token and Jimmy had started hanging around each other a lot. And to say Craig wasn’t fond of that crowd was an understatement.

They each had their own niches.

Kyle and Token were two of the best basketball players on their team. They were generally well-liked for some fucking reason. Craig had no idea how _ anyone _ could like Kyle especially. He didn’t even know where to _ start _ with that smartass. Token, on the other hand, was totally someone people just _ pretended _ to like for his money. And Jimmy was plain fucking irritating, cracking shitty jokes people only laughed at because it’d be awkward if no one did.

Wendy, Bebe and Nichole were all cheerleaders. Guys from every little clique would kill for a chance to date any of them. Wendy, just like Kyle, was obnoxious and also in the running to be class valedictorian. Bebe was regarded as _ the _hottest girl in school. The pictures she’d been putting online of her at beach cleanups solidified that position for everyone. Except for Craig. Craig thought she was a fake bitch, using people like Clyde to get free shoes and clothes or whatever else she wanted. Nichole had transferred just a year ago and all Craig knew about her was that she was in the drama club. But she was automatically an asshole for even being associated with these pricks.

Craig had spent years avoiding these people. And when they were forced to interact, he was blatantly rude to them. Everyone else at school including Clyde, however, was buddy buddy with that group and only had glowing things to say. They were popular. And the kids at school weren’t the brightest so Craig could see why.

Craig didn’t care enough to start an argument with Clyde over this. All he wanted was to find Tweek. He kept silent and continued his search. They were nearing their destination so hopefully, he’d see him there. Clyde pushed the door, swinging it open before they walked into the mess the school called a cafeteria.

They were bombarded with a million voices all going off at the same time, the smell of school lunches and the same kids sitting with the same people. Craig couldn’t say it was nice to be back. Looking around the room, he’d spotted Tweek at the back of the lunch line. This was his chance to go talk to him.

“Hey, I’m gonna grab some food. Go get a table,” Craig instructed Clyde, not taking his eyes off Tweek.

“Sure thing, man!” Clyde exclaimed, already taking off in another direction.

With long strides, Craig made his way over to the back of the line behind Tweek, grabbing a tray. It was go time.

He tapped Tweek on the shoulder lightly. “Hey, Tweek.”

Tweek turned and looked at him. Upon seeing Craig, his face broke out in a bright smile. “Oh! Hi!”

Craig’s heart did somersaults.

“S-so...” Craig started, already feeling a bit of the nerves coming on. “What are you up to?”

With an amused smile, Tweek replied, “Um...getting some food?”

Craig’s face turned red, embarrassed. “Right. Yeah. Me too! Th- that’s a coincidence.” He laughed nervously.

The line moved and they both took a couple of steps forward. Craig cleared his throat to speak again. “I-I was wondering if you wanted to sit with me? I wanted to catch up cause...you know, it-it’s been a while.”

Tweek’s brows arched up. “Oh! I’d love to! It’s just, um…” Tweek lowered his head. “I already promised a few people I was gonna sit with them.”

Craig’s face visibly fell and Tweek immediately piped up, “B-but I’m gonna go tell them I’m sitting with you today! Is that okay?”

Craig’s eyes lit up, the corners of his lips turning upwards. “Yeah! Sounds good.”

Tweek turned to the lunch lady and got his food, turning to Craig and smiling before he left. “I’ll find you.”

Craig nodded back idly. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to seeing Tweek’s smile again.

After getting his lunch, he’d managed to find Clyde. He was sitting with a few other guys. The same people they’d been sitting with last year. Craig didn’t mind their presence too much but barely considered them friends. He walked over to the table and set his tray down on it.

“There you are!” Clyde greeted, grinning as Craig took a seat beside him.

“Hello there, Craig! How’s it going?” Kevin said.

Craig glanced at him, blank faced before beginning to eat his lunch. He wasn’t particularly fond of Kevin “Androids Are People Too” Stoley. He could keep thinking all he wanted that Craig liked him just because they shared a few interests. It didn’t make it true.

“What have you guys been up to over the summer?” David asked. He was more tolerable. He’d just moved from Idaho about a year ago. Ever since his family’s restaurant had opened, Clyde had been dragging Craig to eat there all the time after trips to the skatepark. David worked there as a waiter and after a few visits and a lot of mildly spicy tacos on Clyde’s part, they got to be friends. Eventually, David began sitting with them at lunch. He and Craig didn’t have all that much in common and they didn’t really talk a whole lot. But he was a decent guy and not a complete fucking bonehead. That’s all Craig could ask for at this point.

Needless to say, Craig wasn’t _ too _ happy with his little “friend group” beyond Clyde. But he didn’t care nearly enough to fix it.

“Besides helping my dad out at the shop? Just the usual. Video games, skating, drowning in pussy,” Clyde answered nonchalantly. He’d never tell anyone but only two of those were true. “How was visiting your grandparents in Idaho?”

David sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. “I missed them and it was great to see them again but...it was boring. It kind of sucks that I had to spend the _ whole summer _ there and not just- eh, a week?”

“Sucks to be you, bro,” Clyde said, mouth full of his lunch. He turned to Craig. “Hey, I forgot to ask. How’d it go with Tweek this morning?”

“Tweek? He’s in my English class!” Kevin interrupted. “I was surprised to see him back. I haven’t seen _ him _ in _ years_.”

Craig turned his head to Kevin and gave him a hard, blank stare. Kevin responded with visible discomfort. Eventually, Craig turned back to Clyde.

“...Anyways,” Craig said slowly. “It was fine.”

Clyde’s nose crinkled. “That’s all you’re gonna give me? ‘_Fine_?’ Come on, what about all the juicy details? Why wasn’t he writing you back?”

Craig rolled his eyes. “Can this conversation wait? I invited Tweek to sit here and he’s on his way.”

Clyde looked confused. “What, really? But he’s over there with the cool kids!”

Craig paused.

...The who?

He turned his head to the table Clyde mentioned and sure enough, there Tweek was. Tray in his hands, standing in front of a table full of people Craig resented. They were chatting with him happily, as if they were all best buddies. Craig’s hands tightened into fists. 

Years ago, those bastards wouldn’t even _ talk _ to Tweek. Whenever Tweek would try and approach them to make conversation, they’d ignore or brush him off. In fact, Bebe and a couple of other kids had even once told him directly that no one wanted to hang with him because he “freaked everyone out.” 

Craig could still remember Tweek telling him about the time that had happened. The wavering of his voice. His sad, sad eyes. The only thing that kept Craig from marching up to those assholes and giving them a piece of his mind was the knowledge that Tweek wouldn’t want him to do that.

Anyone could see that Tweek felt lonely as a kid, even after he’d gained Craig as a friend. Every so often, Tweek would comment on things like how he‘d heard Token’s music through his headphones after school and he’d found out they had the same taste. Or how he and Bebe liked the same cartoons and he knew because she had stickers of them on her binder. Or how much he agreed with the points Wendy made in the essay she’d written and been called to read aloud.

These were kids Tweek wanted to befriend _ so _badly. But they treated him like dirt all because he had tics and a tendency to get anxious. The fact that those same douchebags were over there right now acting like none of that ever happened made Craig’s blood turn up to its boiling point.

He didn’t trust them. Not one bit.

“Craig, you okay? I can like, practically feel steam coming out of your ears,” Clyde said, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“...I’m fine,” Craig answered through gritted teeth. He took a breath and closed his eyes briefly, trying to calm himself down. Now wasn’t the time to blow up. 

Craig saw Tweek turn his head, eyes searching around the room. Thanks to how tall Craig was, even sitting down, it didn’t take long at all for Tweek to spot him. They locked eyes, making Craig’s heart jump for a split second. Tweek’s face brightened and he started walking towards their table. Suddenly, all the anger rushed out of Craig’s body at once as if there were a leak.

Clyde followed Craig’s gaze and saw who he was looking at. “Oh! Tweek! Over here!”

“Move over, make room for him,” Craig muttered, looking at Clyde expectantly.

“What do you mean? There’s plenty of room next to me.”

“_Just move_!”

“Okay, okay. _ Jeez_,” Clyde said, holding up his palms. He scooted to the left, leaving an empty space between himself and Craig just in time before Tweek arrived.

Tweek gingerly placed his tray on the table, taking a seat. “Uh...hi, guys.”

Clyde beamed. “Hey, man! Cool of you to join us! We-”

“Actually, he’s here for _ me _,” Craig interjected firmly.

“Yeah, but of course I wanna talk to all of you guys too!” Tweek continued.

Craig frowned. He guessed he had to share Tweek’s attention now. He never really had to back then.

Tweek dug into his food, a salad, and Craig noticed he was eating way more enthusiastically than he used to. Back in the day, Tweek could barely even finish what little lunch he had. What he _ could _ finish was the coffee in the thermos he always carried around. But right now, there was no thermos in sight. Just a bottle of water.

“We’ve never met but hi, I’m David,” David said, flashing a boyish smile. “And you’re Tweek, right?”

Tweek covered his mouth and held his other palm up in front of David, taking some time to swallow his food before he spoke. “Oh, sorry, yeah! How’d you know my name?”

“Craig and Clyde mentioned it,” David replied. “You used to go here?”

“I did! But I moved away. My parents wanted to relocate their business. It was pretty slow here.”

“Ah, a business! My family owns a restaurant in town! What’s yours?”

“It’s a coffee shop. It got pretty big in the city we moved in but it was just my parents and I working so it got...hectic. It stressed my dad out _ way _ too much. So my mom convinced him to have his brother manage it instead. And now, we’re all back here where it’s way more peaceful!”

“I see. And how are you liking being back?”

Craig’s brows knitted together. He didn’t come here to listen to David interview Tweek like they were on fucking The View.

“It’s great! I, um...it’s really nice to see Craig again,” Tweek admitted, smiling sweetly at him. Craig’s sour expression melted away, the corners of his mouth quirking up. Tweek liked seeing him again. Him _ specifically_. There was an indescribable warm, sloshy feeling in his stomach.

“Oh?” David asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Yeah, man,” Clyde added, muffled from the food in his mouth. “They used to be like, super tight.”

David’s eyes widened. “Really? You and..._ Craig_?”

Craig squinted. What the fuck did he mean by _ that_?

“Is there a problem?” Craig cut in. David shook his head.

“No, I’m just surprised you guys were close. You two are so different,” David explained. “Tweek seems very friendly. And you’re...you.”

Tweek frowned. “What do you mean? Craig’s really nice!”

Everyone else at the table exchanged a look.

Craig rolled his eyes, sighing frustrated. “We’re not here to talk about me.” He turned to Tweek, voice softening. “Tweek, I wanna know what you’ve been up to.”

“Oh!” Tweek exclaimed. “Well, moving’s been...a process. It’s been like, a week and we still have boxes to unpack! But I-”

“No, no,” Craig interrupted. “I mean...while you were away.”

“Yeah, I’m curious,” Kevin interjected. “No offense, Tweek, but you used to be kind of weird and twitchy. What happened?”

A hot flash of anger later and Craig had never in his life stomped on someone’s foot as hard as he did Kevin’s under the table at that moment.

“_Ow _ !” Kevin yelped in pain. “_Agh_, my foot!”

“Oh Jesus, are you okay?!” Tweek asked, concerned. 

“I-it hurts!” Kevin exclaimed, face contorting in a pained expression. “Agh, I-I’m gonna go ask for some ice.”

Before Kevin could get up, Tweek did. “No, no! Sit right here, okay? I’ll get-”

“_ Don’t _!” Craig interrupted quickly, not wanting Tweek to leave. Catching himself, he lowered his voice and composed himself. “I-I mean...I’m sure Stoley can handle it.”

“He might hurt himself even worse! It’s okay, I can go,” Tweek said, already walking away from the table.

“Wh- but- _ wait _!” Craig called out. But Tweek was too far away to hear him. Once he realized it was futile, he turned back to his table, head in his hands, exhaling sharply.

“Hey, _ why _did you stomp on my foot?! Trekkies don’t hurt fellow trekkies!” Kevin cried out.

Craig glared. “You aren’t my ‘fellow’ anything.”

“Dude, I saw you giving _ major _stink eye when David was talking to Tweek,” Clyde observed. “If you’re gonna be jealous, at least be a little more subtle about it.”

Craig heated up, jaw clenching. “I already told you. _ I _ invited him here. He was here for _ me_. It’s been fucking _ years _ since I’ve talked to him and right when he’s back- right when we could _ finally _talk- you all decide to bombard him.”

David’s brows drew together. “Hey. I only wanted to make a new friend.”

“He doesn’t fucking _ need _ another ‘_new friend_,’” Craig argued, raising his voice slightly.

David shook his head. “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on. But it sounds like you have issues to work out.”

Craig glared. “You don’t understand.”

David shrugged. “Maybe.”

The brevity of his response sparked even more irritation in Craig. David went back to eating his lunch and Craig bore holes glaring at him before he turned back to his.

They left it at that.

— — —

There was almost no time left for any of them to chat when Tweek got back. Lunch was over and Kevin had to go to the nurse, Tweek volunteering to take him. Craig wished he’d hurt his own foot instead so it’d be him in Kevin’s place. 

He missed the way Tweek worried about him the way he did when they were kids. All those times he’d gotten scrapes and bruises from playing with the other boys at recess. All those times Tweek would fuss over him, taking bandaids out from his backpack and placing them over every little scratch. Tweek just kept fixing him.

Craig’s head had cooled a bit more since lunch. The last bell had just rung and that usually would have made him feel better. But this time, all it meant was that he’d have to wait until tomorrow to see Tweek again.

After grabbing their stuff from their lockers, Craig and Clyde made their way out of school to swing by the skatepark. Clyde wanted to practice a new trick and Craig found watching him fall more entertaining than most things.

“I can’t believe I’ve been trying for a month now and I _ still _haven’t nailed a frontside 180!” Clyde whined.

“I believe it,” Craig replied, slinging his backpack higher up on his shoulder. “It took you like, a year to learn how to ollie.”

“Hey, that is _ not _that long, okay?!” Clyde defended and Craig rolled his eyes. The hours and hours of failures they’d filmed in Clyde’s video camera begged to differ.

“Maybe if you didn’t bitch so much every time you fucked it up, it’d only have taken you a week,” Craig retorted.

“Yeah? W-well, maybe if you…” Clyde paused in thought for a moment. Two moments. Giving up on a comeback, he shook his head. “Whatever! I’ll land it today, I _ know _ I will, I can _ feel _it!”

“Ha, yeah, we’ll see,” Craig said, pushing past the school’s front door. He was pretty pumped to be getting back to the skatepark after the week he’d had. Maybe he’d finally nail a Tre Flip like he’d been meaning to before the interruption in his skating schedule. His energy was up and he was more than ready to get back to it.

Going down the steps, he was ready to drop his skateboard onto the ground to get going when calls of his name stopped him.

“Craig! Craig, wait up!”

He raised his head, seeing Tweek rushing towards him.

“Oh, hey! Wh-what’s uh- how’s it going?” Craig greeted as soon as Tweek stopped beside him. The way his mood immediately lifted scared even him.

“I just came here to, um...I felt bad not being able to catch up with you at lunch,” Tweek admitted.

Craig’s eyes widened. He wanted to fix the frown on Tweek’s face immediately. “Hey, it’s not your fault, don’t worry about it! Besides...it’s not like that was the only time we’ll ever get to talk.”

Tweek gave a small smile. “Yeah, that’s...actually what I came here to you about. I was wondering if we could...hang out? Like now? I-I mean if you’re not busy!”

“Oh! No, I don’t have any plans right now. Yeah, let’s do it!” Craig replied quickly. 

“Dude, wh- you- we were going to the skatepark?!” Clyde cut in. Tweek turned to Craig, searching for an answer.

“What? I never said anything about going to the skatepark,” Craig said plainly. “Come on, Tweek. Let’s go grab some food.”

He put a hand on Tweek’s back, ushering him to walk away. Behind them, Craig could hear Clyde yell back at him. “Alright, fine! I don’t need you anyway! Your loss when I land the 180 and you don’t get to see how awesome it is!”

— — —

“Woah, woah, woah,” Craig exclaimed. “You sure you can finish that?”

Tweek feigned offense, unwrapping his cheeseburger. “What? Of course!”

They found themselves having fast food, as per Tweek’s request. After leaving school, they headed straight to Craig’s house to take his dad’s car. But not before a short scolding from Tweek about the value of promises and friendships.

(“Are you sure you didn’t have plans with Clyde back there?”

“Uh...”

“..._ Craig_.”

“...Okay, _ maybe _ I did. But it’s fine! He gets it. It’s fine.”

“You’re gonna have to apologize to him later. Bailing on your friend isn’t cool!”

“Y-yeah, you’re right, I’m sorry. I will.”)

Once they got to Craig’s house, Craig grabbed his dad’s car keys and they drove straight to McDonald’s. He didn’t exactly ask his dad if he could take the car but Tweek didn’t know that. Besides, it wasn’t like Craig ever asked for permission anyway.

They were sitting at a table now, their food laid out on it.

“You know,” Tweek began, raising an eyebrow. “You shouldn’t be on my case for how much I’m eating. Look what you got!”

Craig glanced at his tray where there were 3 burgers, a soda and 2 large fries. “This is normal!” Craig insisted, looking back up at Tweek.

“_Normal_?” Tweek repeated, giggling. “How are you still so _ skinny _?”

“Fast metabolism,” Craig said, picking up a fry and plopping it into his mouth. 

“You can’t just be eating junk food,” Tweek scolded. “It’s not good for you.”

“Hm,” Craig regarded. He took a bite of his burger. “I saw you had a salad for lunch. You’re a diet nut now, huh?”

“No! I’m watching what I eat more, that’s all,” Tweek reasoned out. “I just don’t wanna die early, man!”

Craig raised a brow. “And you’re saying that while you’re here, having McDonald’s with me.”

Tweek frowned. “I don’t have fast food _ all the time_! I only suggested it cause...well...I didn’t want you to spend too much.”

Craig paused. “...Are you calling me broke?”

“No, no, I didn't mean it like that! I just-“

Craig chuckled. “Hey, relax, dude. It’s fine. I was just kidding!”

Tweek reached over the table and gave him a playful shove on the shoulder. “_ Craig_!”

Craig’s smile grew bigger. This was nice. It was nice sitting here with Tweek, joking around and talking like they used to. Tweek always brought out a different side of him. And after an excruciatingly long time apart, it felt like a huge, warm hug from home bringing out this part of himself again.

“So,” Craig began, glancing at Tweek’s tray. He thought it was time to ask. “No coffee?”

“Nope!” Tweek said proudly. “Haven’t had a single cup in 3 years!”

Craig’s brows raised in surprise. “3 years?! How did you do it?”

“Well, it wasn’t easy,” Tweek admitted. He took a sip of his water. He took a breath. “I had to go visit my grandparents and they didn’t keep any coffee in the house so I had to go without it for a few days. And, well...I noticed how much better I felt! So I decided to stop drinking it and I’ve only been better ever since! I’m not as anxious, I’m actually sleeping normally, everything just...improved! I’m so glad I did it.”

Craig smiled. “I can see that.” But his face changed, the smile dropping. “I just...wish I knew sooner it wasn’t actually helping you.”

Concern laced Tweek’s face and his tone shifted. “We were kids, Craig. Even _ I _ didn’t know.”

“I _ should’ve _ known,” Craig pressed on. His heart felt 10 times heavier. He turned his head away from Tweek. “I...it was just so _ stupid _ of me. Every time you said you needed coffee- when you had panic attacks, when you’d run out- _ I _ was the dumbass who went and got it for you. I should’ve known it’s what was causing problems in the first place. I was only making it harder for you.”

Craig had buried his resentment for himself over the years. It wasn’t till after Tweek left when Craig realized that _ maybe _coffee was the reason Tweek was as anxious and sleepless as he was. It definitely was. And he could’ve helped him stay away from it. He could’ve lifted a huge weight off Tweek’s shoulders. He could’ve given him the support he needed. He could’ve fixed everything for him. But he didn’t. Instead, Tweek had to do it alone.

“Craig,” Tweek said, his voice soft with emotion. He reached over and placed his hand atop Craig’s. Somehow, the small weight lifted his spirits just a little bit. “All you ever did was make everything easier.”

Craig looked up at him and into his eyes, as if he were trying to find a trace of a lie. Tweek continued. “You were my best friend. You were the _only_ _person_ who actually _wanted _to be around me longer than they needed to. You were there to support me each and every time I needed it. Hell, even when I _didn’t_ need it. You were one of the only good things in my life. _Please_ don’t talk about yourself like that.”

If that wasn’t a reminder of why Tweek was so special to him, he didn’t know what was. 

_ There _ was that voice. The soft, gentle voice that knocked on the door of Craig’s heart. And _ of course _ he’d let him in. Of course he would. Craig let his mouth curve into a small smile and Tweek gave his hand a squeeze.

“I’m sorry,” Craig apologized. “Um...this was supposed to be a happy moment and I ruined it.”

Tweek shook his head. “Hey. Stop that. You’re allowed to tell me what you’re feeling, okay?”

Craig sighed, smiling fondly. “...Yeah. I know. You always used to say that.”

Tweek chuckled. “That’s right. And you need to listen when I do!”

Craig rolled his eyes playfully and joked, “Yes, mom.” To which Tweek stuck his tongue out at.

“...Anyways,” Tweek started, taking his hand away from Craig’s. He rested his cheek on his palm. “You’re learning to skateboard! When did you start? A week ago?”

Craig gave a confused look. “What? No! I’ve been skating for _ years _, dude.”

“Oh!” Tweek exclaimed, embarrassed. “I...I thought you were a beginner.”

Craig’s paused for a beat. “...A beginner?”

“W-well, I just thought because you fell this morning that you…” Tweek trailed off. Craig’s eyes widened as the repressed memory began to come back. 

Craig laughed nervously. “Oh...th-that. Yeah. I...I was just...” He paused to think of a way to put the reason for his massive fail. “...Distracted.”

Tweek opened his mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted by Craig. “But enough about me. I wanna know what’s been happening in _ your _ world out in the city. That’s gotta be _ way _more interesting.”

Sinking his cheek into his palm further, Tweek asked, “What do you wanna know?”

“Well, for starters, what was it like in your new school?” Craig asked.

“It was okay,” Tweek answered simply. “I...didn’t really have any friends at first. Even _ after _ I stopped drinking coffee, no one wanted to talk to me cause I already had um, the weird kid reputation. But a few years later, a new kid came in and, well, no one would hang out with him either. So I approached him, introduced myself and he was kind of my only friend since.”

“But honestly…” Tweek began. He paused, his cheeks slightly flushed. “I missed you. A lot. Like, the whole time.”

To Craig, hearing those words felt like growing back a limb he’d lost.

“I...I’m sorry I never wrote back. If it ever made you feel like I didn’t care about you anymore, or I forgot about you, I’m so, _ so _sorry. But I need you to know that isn’t the truth. I thought about you a lot,” Tweek admitted, sincere eyes firmly locked on Craig’s. “I-it’s weird, I know, missing a childhood friend that much. But...I don’t know. You always made me feel safe.”

Craig couldn’t help the curve of his lips. He loved how Tweek could always talk about his feelings so openly. It was so easy for him, so effortless. Like breathing. 

Craig, on the other hand, couldn’t be more opposite. He could only _ try _to match him.

“Well, you’re back,” Craig said. He felt his cheeks burning. “...A-and, um…hopefully, I...can make you feel that way again.”

Tweek smiled softly. “You still do.”

— — —

The low hum of a slow acoustic song from his MP3 was a welcome backdrop to Craig’s thoughts.

After their little catching up session, he and Tweek had exchanged numbers before he dropped Tweek off at his house. Now, Craig was home, laying in bed, facing the ceiling and trying to make sense of everything. 

Seeing Tweek and getting to hang out with him again brought on entirely new feelings. 

Was he still straight like he always thought he was? 

All he knew was that when Tweek was around, everything made sense. But when he wasn’t, the certain things didn’t seem so certain anymore.

Craig would love it if he could just shove this shit to the side and not think about it. But this was something that involved _ Tweek_. That meant it was important. So he _ had _ to think about it. And he did.

As embarrassing as it was for him to _ really _ admit to himself, Craig thought Tweek was hot. And cute. Really, really fucking cute. But that didn’t mean anything, did it? It was beauty. He could appreciate beauty and still be straight.

Although he guessed there was a difference between admiring beauty from afar and wanting to hold it close to you and never let go.

Um. That sounded…yeah.

So he was attracted to Tweek in the gay way. What of it? Well, the thought _ should _terrify him. Right?

But...it didn’t.

Craig took a breath.

He was gay.

See? That wasn’t too hard to tell himself.

He was surprised he was taking it so well, actually.

But the way Tweek made him feel made it so easy to accept. Nothing that felt _ that _ right could _ ever _ be bad.

Every little thing Tweek did gave him butterflies. Every smile, every little brush of their arms, every time their eyes met. Craig couldn’t get enough of it.

All he wanted to do was be around him again. When he’d dropped him off earlier, it felt like Tweek was pulling more and more at the strings of his heart with every step farther he took. Even now, all he could think about was taking his board and skating over to Tweek’s house to see him again.

It was fucking _ ridiculous _ and he felt like an _ idiot_. But such was love, he guessed. Or whatever this was.

...A crush?

It was a crush. Just a harmless little crush. No big deal. It was gonna be fine. Just fine.

The beeping of a text message cut through the sound of his music. Craig felt around the bed for his phone. He took it and opened the text. It was Tweek.

‘_Hi! Is this craig? Just want 2 make sure :S _’

It was frightening how quickly Craig’s lips turned up into a smile. It scared him _ shitless_.

But he continued to smile.

And he smiled and smiled and smiled as they proceeded to text each other till late at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I borrowed a couple lines from Superbad because they were way too fitting.
> 
> I've always been the biggest fan ever of early 2000s teen movies and this fic is going to be something like a love letter to them. I know I said I'd never write a multichap but here I am! I might go back and edit a few things here but probably nothing too major.
> 
> Thank you guys so much for reading and I hope you're back for the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

“Dude, get up.”

“What?” Clyde replied.

“Get up,” Craig repeated. “That’s my seat.”

Clyde looked at him as if he’d just grown another head. “No, it isn’t.”

“What do you mean ‘_it isn’t _?’” Craig said, tone getting pointed. “I was sitting there.”

“You _ were_,” Clyde pointed out. “But you left.”

“_I was in the bathroom_!” Craig argued, allowing himself to finally raise his voice. “It’s not like I packed my shit and moved to Peru!”

Clyde raised his palms. “Woah, take it easy, it’s just a chair.”

“If it’s ‘just a chair’ then _ get up_!”

“Hmmm...” Clyde deliberated, pursing his lips in thought. “Yeah, I don’t think I want to.”

A tense silence hung over them for a moment.

Craig exhaled slowly. “...You know what? Fine. You can have it. You can have the fucking seat.”

Clyde grinned victoriously. “Sweet!”

Craig slunk into another, less ideal seat and grabbed his PS2 controller. If Clyde thought this was going to slide with no strings attached, he was even dumber than Craig thought.

He turned his attention to the TV where their game, Tekken, was on. He selected the option for a Player vs. Player game and the character selection screen came up, the first step of his plan being set into motion.

He moved quickly to lock in the exact character he had in mind, pressing ‘X’ to seal the deal.

“Wh- _ dude_!” Clyde cried out. “I told you _ I _ wanted to be Devil Jin!”

“Too bad,” Craig said casually, not feeling bad for his best friend at all.

“Dick move, man,” Clyde huffed, moving the controller’s analog and looking at other characters. Craig relished in Clyde’s frustration. He reminded him of a kid who’d just been told by their mom that they had to pick another toy.

“You know…” Craig began. “Maybe if you let me sit on the chair, I’d let you have him.”

A familiar beat of silence was in the air once more.

“...No. No! It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter, alright? It’s the skill that counts,” Clyde said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

As if to further his point, he hovered over the randomize button on the selection screen and hit it. A couple of seconds later, there was a character chosen for him.

“Ha! You’re playing a girl?!” Craig mocked upon seeing ‘Asuka’ onscreen.

Clyde turned red. “_It’s the skill that counts_!”

“You’re talking like you have any,” Craig commented.

“I do!” Clyde exclaimed.

“Yeah? Well, let’s see it,” Craig challenged. The loading screen came up briefly, along with the booming voice announcing the start of the battle. 

The game had officially begun. Both of them started mashing random buttons- as _ all _highly skilled gamers did. Clyde stuck his tongue out in concentration and Craig’s brows knitted together, focusing intently on the game.

Amidst the click-clacking sound of the boys’ fingers hitting the controls, they heard footsteps. Craig recognized them all too well as his mom coming back up from the laundry room. And sure enough, the cool nasally voice that followed confirmed his theory.

“Oh, hello, Clyde! I should’ve known you’d be here today,” she greeted. Craig didn’t take his eyes off the TV screen, but he knew she was standing there with a hamper full of clean clothes in her arms.

“Hey, Laura,” Clyde said in that slow, infuriating tone he always used when talking to women. 

Craig elbowed his friend in the shoulder. “Dude, knock it off.”

The blow caused Clyde to fumble and lose grip of his controller for a split second before he caught it midair. “Dude, what the hell?! It won’t count if you win this one!”

“_Why the hell wouldn’t it count_?!” Craig asked, sounding like a threat.

“You made me drop my controller!” Clyde reasoned out, voice pitching higher.

Craig scowled. “That’s cause _ you _ were-“

“Can this please wait till I’m not in the room? You boys are giving me a headache,” Laura complained.

“I’m sorry, Laura, you’re right,” Clyde admitted, voice much calmer. “_Boys _ bicker. But me? I’m a _ man_.”

Craig muttered something unintelligible and gruff and Laura sighed. Craig heard her set down the hamper before she spoke, changing the subject. “So Craig, I heard your little friend Tweek is back in town. Have you boys caught up?”

Craig’s face went warm. “C-caught up? Uh...yeah.”

“_Caught up _?!” Clyde cried. “They’ve been texting like, every day since school started!”

Craig’s face grew even warmer. He and Tweek _ had _been texting a lot the past two weeks.

But that was all they did. They _ just _texted. 

At school, Tweek continued to hang around Wendy and those other assholes which meant they could never really talk much there. Craig’s best bet to actually hang out with him was to ask him directly. And he’d been meaning to. Really, he had. But every time he’d attempted to text and ask, he’d end up chickening out and hitting delete on his message.

Figuring out he had a crush on Tweek majorly affected how he interacted with him. This crush was something Craig didn’t want anyone else- _ especially Tweek _\- to know about. He’d been overthinking their interactions a lot.

He overthought each message, the way he’d say hello to Tweek in the halls, the way he acted whenever Tweek was in the same room. Craig wanted to make sure his actions never gave away his little secret. He was trying to make everything come across as natural and friendly as possible. He was worried that asking Tweek to hang out _might _just ruin that barrier of friendliness he had going on. 

Which was _ stupid_, of course. 

Friends hung out all the time! In fact, that was what friends _ did_.

And usually, that logic would be enough for him to understand that it would be _ totally _ fine and _ totally _friendlike to just ask. But ever since Tweek waltzed back into his life, he hadn’t been able to think clearly.

“I’m glad you boys still get along,” Laura said warmly. “You _ did _spend an awful long time apart.”

“...Mom,” Craig said firmly. “Can you leave now?” It was less of a request and more of a demand. 

He could practically hear her roll her eyes. “Alright, I’ll leave you two to your video games.”

True to her word, she walked away.

“_OHHHHHHH _!” Clyde cheered.

Craig focused back on the game. The flashing letters ‘K.O’ greeted him as Devil Jin fell from a swift kick to the chest. He’d taken a loss.

“‘_You suck at this, Clyde_.’_‘What skill, Clyde? _’” Clyde deepened his voice to impersonate his friend. 

“I spaced out, you got lucky,” Craig said, rolling his eyes.

“That’s no excuse! You have to be sharp, man! _ Always _pay attention,” Clyde replied.

“Big words from the guy who spends most of his time in class looking at squirrels outside,” Craig retorted.

“Hey, this isn’t class, bro. It’s something way more important,” Clyde said, reaching for the bowl of Cheetos sitting on the coffee table. He took a handful and shovelled them into his mouth.

Meanwhile, the game had announced the beginning of the next round. Craig immediately began mashing the controller buttons to start getting hits in before Clyde could.

“Hey! I wasn’t looking!” Clyde shouted, muffled by the snacks still in his mouth.

The side of Craig’s mouth quirked up. “What happened to being sha-”

The familiar sound of Craig’s phone cut in.

There was almost no reaction time till Craig was dropping his controller and scrambling to grab it.

“You’re letting yourself get owned again, man!” Clyde jeered happily.

Craig navigated to his phone’s inbox eagerly to see who the text was from. However, a frown formed on his face upon seeing. It wasn't from Tweek.

“Oh shit, oh shit, watch this!” Clyde said. Craig diverted his attention back to the game to find a killing blow being delivered to his character. The letters ‘K.O’ once again flashed, reflecting what Craig was feeling.

“Damn, I didn’t even _ need _a third round to prove I’m awesome!” Clyde boasted, delivering multiple playful punches to Craig’s shoulder. However, when he saw the look on Craig’s face, his mouth changed into a goofy grin. “...So, you’re bummed that wasn’t Tweek?”

The familiar heat in Craig’s cheeks was back as he glared. “Just...start another round.”

— — —

That afternoon, Tricia had asked Craig to do the worst thing a sister could ever ask her brother to do: drive to the nearest store and get tampons for her.

Craig could’ve easily told Tricia to stick a sock up there, go out and get them herself. Unfortunately, because of his mother’s looming presence in the background watching the conversation, he couldn’t say no.

He was going to have to power through looking like a creep in the menstrual products aisle. But luckily, he didn’t have to do it alone. Clyde agreed begrudgingly to come with him as support.

Support _ and _to get a soda.

“It worked out after all!” Clyde said happily as they exited the store. He popped open his Mountain Dew and took a swig.

Thanks to a short argument, they took longer than they should have at the checkout counter. Clyde insisted on paying separately for his drink but Craig argued that it’d be faster if he bought everything and Clyde could pay him back later. They bickered in front of the cashier for a good minute before Craig put his foot down and paid.

“We could’ve been out of there faster,” Craig asserted as they walked to the car. He was more than ready to get in so he wouldn’t have to be carrying around Tricia’s pack of fucking pussy sticks.

“We’re out, man, that’s all that matters,” Clyde replied. “Hey, a new froyo place just opened over at Sundale and it’s supposed to be awesome. You wanna go?”

Craig shrugged. “Eh. Why not? It’s not like I have anywhere else to-”

He froze.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a familiar head of blond hair going right past them.

That was Tweek. No doubt in his mind.

_ Tweek _was here.

Tweek was here and _ Craig _ was here and they both happened to be _ here_. Tweek was alone, no Wendy, no Nichole, no Kyle, _ none _ of those guys. Craig was dying to finally get the chance to have a conversation with him in person again. He _ had _to go over there.

Lightning fast, Craig shoved the tampons into Clyde’s hands and scrambled to catch up to Tweek.

“Hey, Tweek!” Craig called out, walking briskly.

Tweek turned around. Upon seeing Craig, his brows shot up in surprise. “Craig! You’re here! What’s up?”

“Nothing much!” Craig said, stopping in front of him. “Just uh...came here to...buy...stuff.”

There was no way in hell he was gonna tell Tweek what ‘stuff’ he was here to buy.

“Yeah, me too. My parents are having me get some groceries,” Tweek explained.

“Craig, what the _ fuck _?!” screeched Clyde’s voice. Craig and Tweek’s heads snapped to his direction.

And Craig could see the moment Tweek’s gaze momentarily flickered onto the pack of tampons in his best friend’s hands.

“Uh...hi...Clyde,” Tweek greeted awkwardly as soon as his eyes flickered back to Clyde’s face.

Fuck. _ God_, fuck.

“A-are you...did you guys come here together?” Tweek asked, still directed at Clyde.

Clyde’s eyes flew from Tweek to Craig, who was frantically shaking his head and mouthing ‘no.’ Slowly, like a pendulum, Clyde looked back to Tweek. “Um...no?”

For a while, they just kind of stood there, It seemed neither Clyde nor Tweek knew what to fill the empty gaps in the conversation with.

And Craig couldn’t let it stretch on any longer so he spoke up. “So, Tweek, did you-”

“_PLEASE DON’T TELL YOUR FRIENDS YOU SAW ME GETTING TAMPONS_,” Clyde blurted out suddenly.

A short, stunned silence followed.

Tweek opened his mouth as soon as he’d processed Clyde’s request. “No, no, I won’t! Don’t worry! Besides, I think it’s nice that you're taking care of your sister!”

“I don’t have a sister,” Clyde said and Craig resisted the urge to duct tape his best friend’s mouth shut.

“Your mom?” Tweek guessed.

And just when Craig thought this couldn’t possibly get more awkward, he was, of course, proved wrong. 

“My mom’s dead,” Clyde replied, apparently not knowing that this wasn’t exactly an appropriate time to reveal that.

Tweek looked mortified. “Oh! I-I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

It was about as much secondhand embarrassment Craig could take. He had to get these two away from each other. Fast. 

“So, Tweek, did you need help getting those groceries? Cause I can help you,” Craig offered quickly.

“I-I’d love that! Yeah! Thanks!” Tweek exclaimed with obvious relief the conversation was switching gears.

Wow. That worked out pretty well. Craig guessed now, he was going to be following Tweek around the grocery store like a puppy. He wasn’t opposed to that.

Seeing if he could push it a little, Craig added, “Did you have a ride back? I could take you if you want. I brought my dad’s car.”

“Wow, really? That’d be great!” Tweek answered.

Shit. Holy shit. He was actually doing pretty fucking good. That delicious bravery still swimming inside him, he decided to step it up even further.

“A-and maybe after, we could get some froyo? There’s a new store that opened. If you’re...cool with that,” Craig said, cursing himself internally for that stupid stutter.

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m _ more _than cool with that,” Tweek said, smiling sweetly, making the already soft parts of Craig’s heart melt even more.

“Gee, Craig, I’ve never heard of that new froyo place! That’s totally super cool of you to give us a heads up!” Clyde exclaimed, displaying just how awful he was at lying. “Can I come with?”

Craig paused.

No way. There was_ no way _ he was gonna let Clyde ruin it.

“But...didn’t you have that..._ thing _...you need to go to? Like, right now?” Craig asked. He stared at his best friend intently, hoping he’d get the message.

Craig could practically hear the gears turning in Clyde’s head as he processed what Craig was trying to tell him.

Fortunately, Clyde yielded. 

“_Ohhhh _ . Yeah! Right! _ That _thing,” Clyde answered awkwardly. “I-I’m gonna need to go now if I don’t want to be late for the, uh...thing. I’ll see you guys!”

“Bye!” Tweek replied, waving.

A pack of tampons and a soda in hand, Clyde turned and walked away, leaving Craig and Tweek alone.

“You ready?” Craig asked.

Tweek smiled warmly. “Let’s go!”

— — —

Maybe Craig should’ve thought about all the CDs lying around in the car before he offered Tweek a ride.

“Hey, what are all these?” Tweek asked, looking at the pile of CDs between them. He picked one up. Written in permanent marker on the front was ‘Guns N’ Roses.’ “You like this band? Let’s listen to this!”

Before Tweek could put the CD into the slot, Craig quickly blocked it.

“No, don’t do that!” Craig said frantically and Tweek turned to him, curious.

Craig sighed, putting his hand back on the wheel. “Th-that’s...um...my dad used to be in a cover band when he was in high school. He found their old cassettes in the garage the other week and had someone burn them all into these CDs.”

Green eyes widened in surprise. “A cover band? A Guns N’ Roses cover band?”

“No, other shit too. Rock music,” Craig answered, stepping on the brakes as they reached a red light. As dumb as it sounded, he was happy they were at a light because then, he could finally turn and look at Tweek’s face.

“So your dad was in a rock band? That’s pretty cool.”

“Ehhhh...I guess,” Craig said, wavy and uncertain. “Hey, while we’re talking about music... do you still play the piano?”

“I haven’t been able to play much,” Tweek admitted. He sighed forlornly. “Between school, homework and _ all _my responsibilities at the shop...I barely had any free time.”

“Well, you do now,” Craig replied, grinning.

“It’s so exciting! The best part is I don’t have the shop to worry about anymore,” Tweek said giddily. A pause. “Remember when you used to make up all sorts of stuff to get dad to pull me out of work?”

Craig gave a short chuckle. “Some of my best acting.”

Tweek rolled his eyes playfully. “You were awful!”

“But it worked,” Craig pointed out and Tweek stuck out his tongue.

“Yeah, as _ horrible _ as you were at lying, it was pretty effective. It _ did _work every time,” Tweek commended. “My personal favorite was that day you ran out of excuses. Remember that? When you told dad we had an important class project to work on?”

“I said we had to meet every day for 3 months and all at the exact same times as your shifts,” Craig continued, grinning at the fond memory. It seemed like forever ago. “I’m pretty proud of that. Saved me a lot of small lies to tell just one big one.”

“Yeah!” Tweek exclaimed. “I can’t _ believe _that worked!”

“Of course it did, your dad’s an idiot.”

“_Hey _! Don’t say that about him!” Tweek scolded, mouth twisting into a frown and brows snapping together. 

For a fraction of a second, Craig was paralyzed, deeply regretting saying what he’d said.

But then Tweek burst into a fit of laughter. “Just kidding!”

The petrified look on Craig’s face broke before his laughter started and mixed in with Tweek’s. “Don’t _ do _that to me, dude!”

“See, _that _was good acting!” Tweek boasted, the last of his giggles escaping him.

“Not funny!” Craig exclaimed, his amused grin betraying his words.

“_Very _funny!” Tweek corrected.

“Oh, you wanna see funny?” Craig asked with a mischievous smile. 

Tweek’s mouth hung open, already predicting what would happen next. “Oh no. No, no, no, no, no!”

Craig raised his index fingers and dug them into Tweek’s soft sides, causing Tweek to yelp. He ran his fingers up and down Tweek’s sides.

Endless giggles spilled out of Tweek’s mouth and Craig couldn’t help but think about how similar this was to playing an instrument. His fingers moved similarly to how someone would play the piano and the bubbly laughter was like musi-

“_COME ON! GO! _”

Craig’s hands instantly froze in their movements at the sound of the driver behind him yelling out. His eyes darted to the traffic light which was flashing a bright green. 

Craig took his hands off Tweek like he was on fire, grabbed the wheel, stepped on the gas and sped right ahead.

If Craig didn’t have to look at the road, he’d be hanging his head, embarrassed. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t...I-”

“Hey...it’s okay. But next time, keep your eyes on the road, not me. Got it?” Tweek said playfully and Craig laughed because he was supposed to. Because it was supposed to be a joke.

But if only Tweek knew just how difficult it was to do that.

“Is that the place right there?” Tweek asked, pointing along the road ahead of them.

Blue eyes followed that same direction and sure enough, there it was. A new shop he’d never seen before. It was small, brightly colored with just enough people eating in it to tell that it wasn’t a failure, but not a huge success either.

“Yeah, that’s the one,” Craig acknowledged. He slowed down and parked up the front before they both stepped out of the car and promptly fell in line inside the store.

Coming in, it had kind of a retro theme going on which Craig could appreciate. Neon signs and checkerboard tiles. But what he spent more time appreciating was the way Tweek bit his tongue as he studied the menu board. He was staring as if the flavor he was picking was going to be the most important decision he was ever going to make in his life.

If Tweek was anything like he was when they were kids, he’d get strawberry. Craig could recall that no matter how long Tweek stared at a dessert menu, he’d always ended up getting something strawberry flavored in the end. Not for fear of trying new things though. Tweek just really loved strawberry. And Craig bet all his money he’d get it today.

“Do you know what you’re having yet?” Craig asked, deciding to test his theory.

“Agh, I don’t know!” Tweek exclaimed. “Double Chocolate looks good. But so does Toffee Caramel! And Vanilla-Raspberry! Oh man, I have no idea what to get!”

Craig’s thick brows raised in surprise. 

Wow. He didn’t even _ mention _strawberry. Maybe Tweek was different now.

The line moved forward and finally, it was their turn. Craig ordered his yogurt of choice- dark chocolate- and turned to Tweek to ask for his.

Tweek chewed on his lip for a moment before finally uttering his decision. “...Strawberry?”

Craig smiled fondly.

The cashier took down their orders and gave them their total. Tweek pulled his wallet out to pay and Craig stopped him.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Craig said, holding a hand up. “It’s on me.”

“Wow,” Tweek replied, eyes going round. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah!” Craig said confidently. “Don’t worry about it.”

Craig reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet.

Except...wait.

It wasn’t his wallet.

The brown leather in his hand- he didn’t recognize it as his.

Splitting open the fold, he found Clyde’s driver’s license picture staring right at him through the card slot. Craig stared for a moment before the information clicked.

He and Clyde must have had taken each other’s wallets by mistake.

He blinked slowly.

...Well.

Clyde wouldn’t mind if he borrowed some money for now. He snatched a 10 dollar bill from it and paid.

“Thanks, Craig!” Tweek chirped.

Craig smiled back at him. “No problem.”

There was no way to truly describe how on-top-of-the-world he felt paying for Tweek’s food. It was dumb since he knew Tweek had no financial problems and could’ve easily done so himself. Regardless, it made Craig feel like a superhero.

The cashier handed them their yogurts and they stepped aside to go find a seat.

Tweek curled a hand around Craig’s arm, leading him out to the tables and warmth spread through him. He thought about it. He thought about the simplicity of the act.

He thought about what other people saw- two people at a frozen yogurt shop, one leading the other by the arm to find a seat. It was a simple image. But there was something about that bit of physical closeness that made Craig feel like there was a kick drum beating in his chest.

He wondered if anyone else felt crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, just as he did.

— — —

The banging on his bedroom door came not long after he got home.

Hanging out with Tweek left Craig feeling the same as before- like he was floating on a cloud. He was elated, lying on his bed replaying every moment in his head.

But the booming, incessant knocking dumped ice water all over his mood.

He sighed gruffly before he got up from the embrace of his bed, walked over to the door and opened it. Standing there was Clyde, with the pack of tampons they’d bought in hand.

“Hey, man,” Craig greeted casually. “I have your-”

“I HAD TO WALK..._ ALL THE WAY HOME _!” Clyde shouted, shoving the tampons into Craig’s hands.

Craig’s eyes widened just a fraction. “Dude, relax,” he replied with a hint of concern. “I thought you’d take the bus.”

“Yeah, so did I,” Clyde shot back. “But then I found _ this_.”

Craig watched as his best friend retrieved a worn out black leather wallet from his back pocket. It was Craig’s wallet. Clyde thrust it into his hands.

“...Okay?” Craig said with a confused lilt. “What does that have to do with-”

“You wanna know how much you had in there, man?” Clyde asked. “Go ahead! Check! I didn’t spend any of it!”

Craig obliged and folded his wallet open. He peeked through the flap he kept his money in. All that was there was a couple of nickels.

“10 CENTS!” Clyde fumed, hands balled into fists. “_HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO GET HOME WITH 10 CENTS_?!”

“Well, it’s not _ my _fault! I didn’t know!” Craig argued in defense.

Clyde huffed, reached into Craig’s pocket, pulled out his wallet and stashed it into his hoodie. He promptly walked out the door and left.

— — —

“You know what’ll get me laid for _ sure_?” Clyde asked as they walked to class.

He’d gotten over his outburst at Craig’s house pretty quickly which was not surprising in the least. Clyde was a pretty moody guy. He changed emotions like he changed clothes. Especially when it came to anger. Prolonged anger wasn’t Clyde’s style.

“Please enlighten me, I would love to know,” Craig replied, drenched in sarcasm. He shrugged the strap of his backpack higher up his shoulder.

“Bagging a date to prom,” Clyde answered, awashed in the delusion that Craig sincerely was interested. “Prom is Vagapallooza for high school guys. _ Everybody _knows it. The only reason guys ever go is cause they know their date’s gonna be D.T.F that night. In fact, I have a class with Jimmy Valmer and the other day, I heard him say-”

And that’s when Craig tuned out the rest. There were more important things to spend his brain power on than listening to Clyde talk about his journey to devirginization, especially in these trying times.

It’d only been a couple of weeks since the school year started. But the consequences of making it to senior year were starting to get to Craig a little. Between thinking about college applications, SATs and all the schoolwork already due, it was a bit overwhelming. However, he did have his shit figured out more than plenty of other kids, which was a significant boost to his confidence.

Really, the only thing Craig should be concerned about was all the detentions in his record. But colleges probably didn’t check that anyway. He had pretty good grades and that was all that mattered.

Suddenly, Clyde stopped and turned to him. “Hey, I gotta go take a leak real quick. Wait for me here.”

“Sure,” Craig replied. He moved to the side and leant against the lockers as Clyde pushed open the bathroom door.

Craig was able to catch a glimpse of one sophomores’ horrified face as Clyde walked in. Craig’s mouth twitched up and air exhaled through his nose in a silent laugh.

It seemed like that story was still circling the school.

How could he ever forget that fateful day 3 years ago?

When they were freshmen, the cafeteria had decided to serve all Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo for the first time. After a long half a day spent in class, Clyde was overjoyed at the smell of taco seasoning and cilantro wafting in the air.

Key word: overjoyed.

Even keyer word: over.

Craig had heard on National Geographic once that cows had 4 stomachs. Watching Clyde shove enchilada after enchilada down his throat had Craig thinking that maybe this marvel was something zoologists would like to look into.

It wasn’t until Clyde’s last class of the day when he had started to feel just how much he’d eaten. The bell rung and he made a beeline for the nearest bathroom. Absolute warfare ensued.

Those who were there claimed it sounded like a sobbing child in the background of a Michael Bay movie. Craig had no doubt in his mind that was true.

The aftermath came three and a half hours later and Craig couldn’t even begin to describe his best friend’s appearance after the whole ordeal. All he could say was that it was one of the only times in his life where he’d ever felt pity towards Clyde.

After the incident, the cafeteria never served Mexican food again. 

Clyde, meanwhile, had become an urban legend of sorts. 

For the first year or so, every last person would evacuate the men’s bathroom immediately upon spotting him come in. Thankfully, it had mellowed out some since then. Currently, people were just kind of scared of him, as demonstrated by the wide-eyed sophomore just moments ago.

Suddenly, Craig was shaken out of his thoughts by a familiar, “Hey, Craig!”

His head snapped up abruptly, looking across the hall to find Tweek by his locker, waving at him. Almost instantly, a smile crept up on Craig’s face.

To his dismay, however, Wendy was there as well, boring holes right through him with her eyes. It seemed like she was in the middle of a conversation with Tweek. Wendy’s mouth was set in a hard line. That there was a dirty look if Craig had ever seen one. Her expression was practically commanding Craig to stay away.

But there was no way he was going to give in.

He’d been feeling a bit more confident after he and Tweek went out for frozen yogurt. This time, he was actually going to approach and talk to him instead of leaving it at a passive hello.

Rather than let his anger at Wendy boil any more, he kept a level head. Craig walked over to Tweek, greeting him back. “Hey, Tweek! How are you doing?”

But before any reply could come out of Tweek’s open mouth, Wendy interrupted. “...So, Tweek, like I was saying, we have a meeting after school to discuss the first chapter and I really think you should come. You’ve already read the whole thing so I think you could spark some interesting discussions. Plus, book club’s a great chance to meet new friends!”

Craig’s head felt like a pressure cooker.

Steaming hot and whistling.

But he had to keep his cool. He _ had _to.

There were plenty of reasons Craig didn’t like Wendy. But none was more eye roll inducing than the tone she spoke in when she’d talk about her extracurriculars.

And really, what kind of fucking extracurricular was _ book club _?!

How much of a loser did you have to be to join book club willingly? Having to read novels for class was torture enough!

Someone would have to strap Craig to a chair and attach electrical clamps to his balls to get him to sit through a stupid book club meeting. He could think of nothing he’d rather do less than sit in a circle with a bunch of-

“Sounds fun!” Tweek chirped. “I’m definitely going!”

Craig’s train of thought came to a screeching halt.

“Really? Oh, that would be _ great _!” Wendy replied excitedly. “It’s after school at 3:30 in room-”

“Wendy, let’s not be rude,” Tweek said gently. He turned to Craig. “Craig, do you want to come?”

Before Craig could even begin to weigh the pros and cons of saying yes, Wendy opened her mouth. “Don’t be silly, it’s _ Craig _. Of course he doesn’t.”

“Actually, I _ do_,” Craig spoke up. His eyes went wide immediately, surprising even himself.

What the fuck? What was he _ saying _?!

“Oh, really?” Wendy asked, a skeptical lilt to her voice. One of her eyebrows rose and there was the same dirty, _ infuriating _ look on her face as before.

The pressure, rather than made Craig nervous, egged him on.

“Yeah, I love books,” Craig replied, sounding almost sarcastic.

“Hm,” Wendy remarked. She looked as if she were trying to decide which chess piece to move. 

He raised a pierced brow, daring her.

With a firm finality, she spoke again. “You haven’t read the book we’re discussing. So, nice try! But no.”

The creases in Craig’s forehead deepened. “And how do you know that?”

There was no way in hell he was going to let Wendy get in the way of spending some time with Tweek. Even if it _ did _have to be in book club.

“Because you’re _ you_,” Wendy argued, her tone suggesting that was enough to end the conversation. “I highly doubt _ you’ve _ read Looking for Alaska.”

“Pfff, yeah I have! It’s a classic!” Craig retaliated.

Wendy looked bewildered. “‘_Classic’ _ ? It was _ just _published last year!”

“I knew that!” Craig replied with faux confidence, keeping his composure pretty well for someone who so totally did _ not _ know that. “I meant an _ instant _classic.”

Wendy narrowed her eyes. “Yeah? If you know so much, what happened when-”

“Um, guys?” Tweek interrupted sheepishly. “I think we should save talking about the book for later.”

“Fine,” Wendy said hotly, still directing a glare at Craig. “Come on, Tweek. Let’s get to class.”

“O-okay,” Tweek stuttered. He closed his locker door gently. Wendy took him by the arm and let himself be dragged away but not before he called back to Craig. “Bye, Craig! I’ll see you later at book club!”

“Yeah!” Craig shouted back, waving as Tweek walked farther away. “...At book club.”

Oh, man.

He had no idea what he was about to get himself into.

“Hey, what’d I miss?” came Clyde’s voice from next to Craig. He was back from the restroom.

“Nothing,” Craig replied, shaking his head.

“Come on, let’s go! You hate being late,” Clyde said and started to walk down the hall.

Craig followed suit.

— — —

“Thanks for coming, guys. If anyone wants to take out their copy, feel free and we can start!” Craig heard Wendy greet as he walked into the room late.

He was sat in a bathroom stall for around 5 minutes before this, debating to himself whether going was a good idea. Faking sick was an option. Faking ‘prior commitments’ was an option. But eventually, his desire to be around Tweek (and his spite for Wendy) won out.

As soon as he walked in, Tweek called over to him, waving, “Hey, Craig! Over here! I saved you a seat!”

And that right there- that bright smile on Tweek’s face- was more than enough compensation for the irreparable mental damage it was gonna cause Craig going to this meeting.

He sat on the empty seat next to Tweek and concluded this was going pretty damn good so far.

As Wendy continued to talk, Tweek turned to Craig and in a hushed voice said, “Hey, glad you could make it.”

Craig allowed a soft curve to his lips. “Me too.”

“I didn’t know you liked books,” Tweek replied, tilting his head in interest. “I don’t remember you being a reader.”

Craig’s smile turned crooked as he got nervous. “Uh...y-yeah. It’s...something I picked up.”

“Wow,” Tweek said, eyebrows raised. “Do you have any other surprises? What else have you picked up on while I was gone?”

Craig was filled with relief at the topic change. “Besides skateboarding?” he asked. He carded through his thoughts for a moment. “Not much. Except a little guitar, I guess.”

“_Guitar _?” Tweek repeated, his expression brightening. “Can I hear you play?”

Craig turned crimson. He was nowhere _ near _ ready for that. Although Tweek didn’t know guitar, he’d always been an amazing pianist so it was still going to be beyond nerve-wracking to let an actual musician- who Craig was also _ crushing on _\- hear his slightly above novice guitar skills.

“I-I don’t know if you wanna do that. I’m really not that good,” came Craig’s stuttered reply. But because he didn’t want Tweek coming to his house to be completely off the table, he added, “Maybe when I get better at it.”

Tweek smiled reassuringly. “Don’t say that, I’m sure you’re great.”

Craig shook his head with a small smile on. “Well, I’m definitely not as good as-”

“Craig!” Wendy spat.

Craig paused.

His head snapped to Wendy across the circle.

“You seem to be in a talking mood,” she snarled. “Is there anything you want to share about the book?”

And Craig didn’t have time to scoff at how much she sounded like a fucking teacher. Because he was too busy trying to string together something to answer.

“Uh…” Craig said eloquently, deer-in-the-headlights look on his face. “I-it was good?”

“It was..._ good_,” Wendy repeated. “Would you like to tell us what about it was good? Be as specific as you can.”

The room was small but a silence seemed to stretch on for miles as Craig sat there with his mouth shut.

“Well? It’s not a hard question,” Wendy followed up. “That is unless...you didn’t do the reading.”

“I...o-of course I read it!” Craig said, hoping to god he sounded convincing.

“Then prove it!” Wendy demanded.

Eyes from all around the circle were on him, waiting for an answer that Craig knew he couldn’t give. It was falling apart. It was all falling apart. It was a bad idea from the get-go and he knew it. _ This _ was why Craig always led with logic and not feelings. So he wouldn’t get himself into situations like _ this _. He should’ve just stuck to-

“_He did read it _!” Tweek blurted out.

Every head in the room turned.

“He read the book,” Tweek repeated, more calmly. Green eyes peered around the circle. “Craig was actually just telling me how he liked all the unique personalities and how refreshing it was to see teenagers portrayed as intelligent for once.”

Tweek shot Craig a look pleading for him to play along. So play along he did.

“Y-yeah!” Craig exclaimed. “Right. That- that’s what I was saying.”

Wendy’s brows furrowed, unconvinced. As much as Craig despised her, he knew she wasn’t dumb.

“...Moving along,” Wendy said dismissively. It seemed the endorsement from Tweek made her lay off. She went on to ask another person to share.

Craig gave Tweek a grateful, somewhat awkward smile. And Tweek returned a reassuring look.

They didn’t talk much for the rest of the meeting and Craig left not knowing how to feel.

— — —

“You went to _ book club _?!”

Clyde pushed harder on his board, attempting to catch up with Craig as they skated to school.

“Yeah, what about it?” Craig replied nonchalantly.

“You ditched me, man! Every 2 weeks, we go to the skatepark with the vert ramp- _ you know that _ !” Clyde cried. “And what sucks the most balls is you didn’t even tell me! I had to hear it from fucking _ Lisa Berger_!”

“Dude, untwist your panties, I missed the vert ramp, so what?”

“You missed it for _ book club_,” Clyde emphasized. “_Book club_? It’s like I don’t even know you!”

Craig sighed. “Tweek invited me, alright? So I went.”

“And _ I _invited you to the vert ramp. But did you go?”

“It’s not like you ever even do anything there except bitch out on dropping in,” Craig pointed out.

“Yeah, well, maybe I would’ve _ actually _dropped in yesterday! But we’ll never know now cause you bailed!”

Craig rolled his eyes. “Get over it, it was _ one time_.”

“Whatever, man,” Clyde dismissed, a little heat left to his tone. “Just...don’t do it again. It’s super lame.”

— — —

‘_So_ what _ are u up 2 _’

Craig chewed on his lower lip as he texted Tweek back.

‘_Sleeping over at clydes house 2night. U?’ _

‘_Im making a myspace...everyone has 1!!’ _

A small, amused smile graced his face. He typed out his reply.

‘_Add me ok?’ _

Almost instantly, he got an answer.

_ ‘How’ _

Before Craig could finish typing, Tweek had sent another one.

‘_And whats a top 8 _’

Craig chuckled silently, shaking his head. His thumbs flew back on his phone’s keypad and thus began his little MySpace tutorial. But he didn’t mind. He didn’t mind being Tweek’s tech support guy at all.

In the middle of typing out a mini tutorial on how to customize a layout, he’d heard Clyde clearing his throat.

“Uh...hey, Craig?” Clyde said, holding the bowl of popcorn he’d prepared for them to eat while watching the movie that was on. Clyde had rented out a few Lord of the Rings DVDs but Craig favored talking to Tweek over paying attention. He and Clyde had already watched these movies together a hundred times so he didn’t really see the point.

That, and Tweek’s every text had Craig waiting eagerly for the next one like a dog sitting in place hoping for another treat.

“Dude,” Clyde said, a gentle reminder.

“Yeah, hang on a second,” Craig said, preoccupied with his incredibly important text conversation. Tweek was deciding who to put on his top 8 and Craig was subtly trying to nudge his way there. It’d make Wendy and those other guys shit their pants.

“...Okay,” Clyde replied timidly.

The conversation had shifted to Tweek asking how to post photos and there was no way Craig was going to let anyone distract him from making thorough, detailed instructions. Being able to look at pictures of Tweek on the internet any time he wanted was something he never knew he needed up until this moment.

Clyde spoke up again. “Craig…”

“Not now, I’m in the middle of something,” Craig dismissed.

“Look…” Clyde began quietly. “I...I know you like Tweek, alright? And not just as friends.”

Craig stopped.

The movement of his fingers stopped, the operations in his brain stopped, the inflation and deflation of his lungs stopped. Everything stopped.

His blood ran cold.

Or at least it felt that way.

What were you supposed to say to that?

When your best friend of almost as long as you’ve been alive says he knows you like a _ guy_, what were you supposed to say?

What did Clyde think about it? Since when had he known? Shit, what if Craig had been so obvious that it was easy for Clyde to tell? Was there a way for him to maneuver this conversation so he wouldn’t have to deal with it?

Well, there _was _the option of denying it. 

He cleared his throat. “I...I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Craig’s voice croaked as if he hadn’t used it in ages. 

Clyde shook his head, chuckling softly. “Come on, man.” He set the bowl of popcorn down on his bed, got up and knelt next to Craig who was sat on the bean bag. “We both know you’re an awful liar.”

...Shit.

Slowly, Craig tried to swallow the lump in his throat.

“Hey, don’t sweat, alright? I’m totally cool with it,” Clyde reassured, a sincere smile on his face. “You’re still my bro. I don’t care _ who _you like.”

Craig slowly let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

For someone who prided himself on not caring about others’ opinions of him, he sure did care a whole lot right now.

“Hey listen, man, I didn’t tell you this because I wanted to scare you, alright?” Clyde said, hands splayed out in front of him. “What I really wanted to say was this: I know being in love is great and all, okay? But you can’t keep-”

“_I’m not in love _,” Craig snapped. And when Clyde looked at him funny, he straightened up. “I-it’s just a crush. It’s not that serious.”

It was weird.

Telling Clyde _ out loud _ that he had a _ crush _ on a _ guy _was so incredibly fucking weird.

“Oh, come on,” Clyde scoffed. “Craig, when you fall in love, _ you remember_.”

Craig’s forehead scrunched up. “I _ told _you it's just a crush. Leave me alone.”

Clyde shook his head, ignoring his best friend’s insistence. “You _ remember_.” Clyde made his way beside Craig and put an arm around his shoulders. He looked off into the distance as if he were seeing things no one else could. “All the planets align...time slows down...you can almost feel how soft those lips would be.”

And Craig felt himself slip into Clyde’s daydream.

An alarmed voice rang in his head, almost echoing: “Hey! Are you hurt? Let me help you!” And then the sight of that perfect face so close to his. The secret yearning in his chest to rest a hand on that cheek. To bring that face even closer. To press those pillowy lips against-

“See? You remember,” Clyde said.

Craig snapped out of it. His best friend was staring at him, grinning and Craig felt like he’d gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Trust me, man. You’re _ way _ past the crush point,” Clyde insisted, still with that dumb smile on. “Maybe back when you were kids. But _ now_? You-”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Craig cut in. “What do you mean ‘when we were kids’?!”

Clyde looked at him incredulously. “You’ve liked him since we were kids.”

Craig stared. “No. No, that’s not- that’s not right.”

Clyde scoffed. “Dude, come on, I already know. You don’t have to keep lying.”

“I’m not lying,” Craig insisted.

“Then why did you used to use up all the savings in your jar to get Tweek birthday _and _Christmas presents every year?” Clyde asked expectantly. “And at lunch, you used to _always _give him your cookie. Even when he didn’t ask! _I _tried asking for your cookie once and you put the entire thing in your mouth and ate it whole. Then, you grabbed _mine _and ate _that _too!”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“And you let him hold _ Stripe_,” Clyde cut off, referencing the guinea pig Craig used to have. “You never let _ anyone _hold Stripe! Anyone!”

And that was what got Craig thinking.

_ Really _thinking.

But it didn’t take much thought to come to a conclusion.

“Holy shit,” Craig said, horrified. “You...you’re right.”

“_Duh _,” Clyde replied playfully. He saw Craig’s dumbfounded look and his face softened. “You know...it’s actually really great.”

Craig turned to his best friend with a brow raised.

Clyde grinned. “I mean seeing you all nervous and shit just cause you have a boner for Tweek.”

Craig’s face scrunched up and he shoved Clyde’s shoulder _ hard_, causing the latter’s body to fall onto the carpet.

“Hey_ ,hey_!” Clyde exclaimed, chuckling and getting back up to a sitting position. 

“I’m just saying,” Clyde began with a soft smile. “It’s pretty awesome seeing you, like, full of life again. I’m really happy for you, man. I mean it.”

Craig stared. “If you tell Tweek, I’ll fucking kill you.”

Clyde raised his hands in defense. “Hey, chill! Don’t worry about it, I won’t tell him.”

“Good,” Craig acknowledged curtly. “I don’t want-”

“I won’t tell him cause that’s _ your _job,” Clyde cut in.

“What?!” Craig exclaimed, taken aback. “No! I’m not gonna tell him! I’m _ never _gonna tell him! I’m gonna wait till this whole crush thing blows over and I move on from it. He’s never gonna know.”

“That’s pussy talk, man,” Clyde said and Craig couldn’t help but notice how the tables have turned. That was a sentence _ Craig _ had directed to _ Clyde _plenty of times. “How are you gonna date him if he doesn’t know you’re interested?”

Craig’s face turned a deep red. “_Date him_?!”

“Yeah! Date him!” Clyde repeated. “You’ve liked this guy since we were like, _ 3 feet tall_. You’re not seriously planning to stay just friends, are you?”

Craig hated being as flustered as he was but he couldn’t help it.

He’d never even thought _ dating _Tweek could be an option.

It was either the crush would go away or he’d have to be content just kind of hanging out and looking at Tweek forever.

Going out with him on _ real _ ,_actual _dates? He’d never even dreamed of it.

“Listen, man,” Clyde started. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know Tweek’s gay.”

Craig’s eyes shot poison daggers. “_Dude_.”

“What?! I’m just telling it like it is!” Clyde said, palms up defensively. “And listen, he’s into you, okay? So don’t worry about that part.”

Craig blinked. “He is?”

“Yeah! Dude, he texts you like, all the time, right?” Clyde said confidently. “And have you seen the way he looks at you?”

“...Um,” Craig articulated. “Like a normal person?”

“No! _ Not _ like a normal person!” Clyde exclaimed. “Whenever you walk into the room, he makes the _ exact _ same face I do when I see the waiter bringing my food. _ Not _normal.”

And Craig, always one to exhaust all negative possibilities, said, “He’s just happy to see me. That doesn’t mean he’s...into me.”

Clyde rolled his eyes. “If he were just happy to see you, he wouldn’t be looking like this.” Clyde’s features contorted into an unattractive cross between holding-in-a-fart and constipated. He even batted his eyelashes.

Craig grimaced. “That...yeah. Don’t do that.”

“He wants your dick,” Clyde insisted. “He wants to drink from the tip like a baby bottle.”

“Dude, cut it out,” Craig barked, the tips of his ears heating up. “You don’t have any solid evidence, alright? So just...fuck off and let me deal with this shit on my own.”

“_Actually_,” Clyde said. “I _ may _ have heard something that might interest you.” When Clyde saw the look on his best friend’s face, he continued. “Remember when you ditched me for book club the other day? Well, I hung out at the gym and started watching cheerleading practice. Annie winked at me, by the way. She’s so into me. Well...I’m not sure if she winked or if her eye twitched but-”

“Great,” Craig snapped. “Is that all?”

“This is going somewhere, okay?” Clyde assured. “So, get this- after practice, Bebe and Nichole stayed behind and started talking. At first, it was about Nichole’s crush on Kyle, which is super obvious by the way. But I’m pretty sure Token likes Nichole and if you ask me, he‘s way cooler-“

“_Get to the point_,” Craig demanded impatiently.

“Right, right,” Clyde said, waving his hand. “So then, they started talking about _ Tweek _ . And at one point, Bebe went, and I quote,” he coughed, putting on a voice meant to imitate Bebe’s, “‘_I don’t know what he sees in that scumbag_.’”

“And guess what?” Clyde excitedly placed a hand on his best friend’s shoulder. “_You’re _ that scumbag!”

Craig’s mouth hung slightly open. “...I am?”

“You are!” Clyde said, shaking Craig’s shoulder. “Bebe said something like ‘_he’s tall and handsome but that’s about it _ ’ and I don’t know about you, but that sounds a lot like someone _ I _know!”

“Sh-she said...” Craig stuttered, trailing off. And then, recovering, he turned to Clyde and barked, “_Why didn’t you start with this information_?!”

“And if that isn’t enough, Nichole mentioned you _ by name_! They were totally talking about the fact that Tweek likes you!” Clyde exclaimed excitedly.

“Again- _ why didn’t you start by saying that _?!” Craig repeated, jerking his shoulder harshly to get Clyde’s hand off.

“I don’t know!” Clyde exclaimed dumbly. “But point is- Tweek _ likes _you, man! It’s up to you where this goes! Are you gonna be a pussy and do nothing? Or are you gonna go for it?”

Craig’s throat felt dry.

— — —

By now, the sound of his best friend’s snoring had enveloped the whole room.

Craig was still wide awake, however. Every time he wanted to shut his eyes and go to sleep, there would be a new thought in his head holding his eyelids open.

Suddenly, his phone alerted him of a new message.

Quickly, he reached for it and opened up his inbox.

It was from the same person who had been on his mind all night.

‘_Are you awake? Cant sleep… _’

Craig chewed on his lip.

After several moments of careful thought, he’d punched out his reply of choice.

‘_Im up. Wanna go on a walk with me? _’

He took a breath. One that felt as if he’d inhaled all the oxygen in the atmosphere, filling his lungs like balloons.

And he hit send.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a long time but here's Chapter 2! Thanks for reading and hopefully, the next update won't take this long! Feel free to tell me in the comments what you think!


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